Changing the Way You Think About Uncertainty

The Key to Mastering Uncertainty _______________________________________________________________________  "Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security." - John Allen Paulos It's 4 a.m. and you're wide awake, thinking about all the bad things that might happen in your career, relationships and life in general.   These thoughts are creating anxiety that is preventing you from sleeping. But, any fear you are feeling is self-imposed, and created by thinking about a scary future rather than focusing on the reality of what's happening in the present. Because, at the present moment, you are safe. There is nothing to fear other than what is being created by your imagination.   We're very good at using the power of our imagination at 4 a.m. Maybe that's when we should schedule our team calls. Everyone awake at 4 a.m. can get together and redirect the power of imaging bad things to imaging phenomenal things!  Just call 1-800 No Worry.   In all seriousness, when you are living in the misery of uncertainty about what's next in your life, sleeping at 4 a.m. is not easy to do.   We don't like the feeling of not being in control of our life.   We don't like not knowing.   We need to fill in the blanks about what's likely to happen next.   And, when you're awake at 4 a.m, you probably aren't imaging a happy future. You're likely to fill in the blanks with what you fear will happen next instead of what you desire to happen next. You get trapped in a fear-driven thought cycle about the potential for discomfort instead of a faith-driven cycle focused on pleasurable possibilities.   Although we don't like being in a place that feels like the abyss between the past and the future, that's where we live. It's called the present moment. And, as you know, it's all you ever really control. If you think you've created a secure, controllable, and predictable life for yourself, you can rest assured that is an illusion. Nothing stays the same forever.   That doesn't mean that change leads to something worse. It can actually open the door to something better. And, what may feel like an abyss, is actually a place that is pregnant with possibilities - if we choose to see them. So why not take control of the moment and try a little experiment the next time you're awake at 4 a.m. Instead of filling your head with dreadful thoughts about all the bad things that you may feel are destined to happen to you - your feared future - try imaging what you desire - your preferred future. It may not be easy to do in the beginning. Thinking scary thoughts at 4 a.m. becomes a habit if repeated often enough. But again, all you really can control is the present moment. And, if you refocus those scary moments on happier thoughts often enough, you will develop a new habit that will pay greater dividends than the gloom and doom habit you're replacing. The only constant in life is that it will involve change that triggers periods of uncertainty and feelings of insecurity. Try as you may to control the future, all you can really do is trust that whatever happens, you will survive, adapt and make the best of it. You may even thrive. You've successfully traveled through periods of uncertainty in the past and you likely will in the future. They don't last forever. And, after a while you begin to realize that all you can ever depend on is your willingness to learn new skills, form new relationships, and explore new options when change redefines the future you thought was yours.   You have always been the source of your own security and you always will be. When you begin to believe this, you will have discovered the key to mastering uncertainty and sleeping through those 4 a.m.. worry wake up calls. . Read my books to learn more about responding confidently to uncertainty in your life and career.

Manage Personal Change